Ballymaguire Foods to open new plant

Irish-based ready meal producer Ballymaguire Foods is to create 100 new jobs and add €4 million (£2.8m) to the Irish economy annually with the construction of a new food plant.

Based in Lusk, Co Dublin, the 70,000sq ft plant will treble production for the company as it focused on the UK market and large catering sector. The plant will be built over the next nine months with sales, marketing, food scientist, technician, R+D, new product development, chef and general operative roles all being created at the site.

This will bring the Ballymaguire Foods workforce up to 250 people. It is also estimated that the construction of the plant will provide up to 100 jobs in the building sector.

Managing director Ed Spelman said: “This is a really exciting time for Ballymaguire Foods as we reach a landmark in our growth and development with strong plans and targets now in place to expand production over the next five years. Our production capability will now grow to over 500,000 meals per week and this will mainly be used to fuel the opportunities we see in the UK and add to our existing business there. We managed to buck the trend during the recession, as we used it to find new opportunities and successfully grow. We are now backing ourselves with this new investment which will help us continue to improve and innovate new food products.

“Our Irish suppliers will also benefit in the future as all ingredients, where possible, are sourced on the island of Ireland. Ballymaguire Foods currently sources 676t of beef, 2600t of potatoes, 2080t of vegetables, 780t of dairy produce and 572t chicken per year in Ireland.”